STEUBENVILLE, Oh.— The home-side stands of Franciscan University's Hank Kuzma court were filled with fans as the Baron basketball team battled the Penn St.-Altoona Lions in a fiercely contested game. Although the team maintained strong pressure throughout, and at times held the upper hand, the final score went to Altoona, 73-69.

The Barons started the night neck and neck with Altoona, pulling ahead by eight points in the ninth minute, but several runs by the Lions evened the score and eventually gave them a five point lead at the half. In spite of the odds, the Barons closed the gap, thanks to several 3 point shots by freshman guard Tim Schenk and a strong shooting percentage by Justin Horstman. FUS continued to push to the bitter end with a foul shot from Corey Henning and another three-pointer from Schenk in the last six seconds.

"Our energy was really good tonight. Our effort was really good and our focus," head coach John Lamanna said, "There just weren't enough minutes left in the game. We ran out of time."

Despite the clock running out on his team, Lamanna said his players never deserted its main focus: Baron Basketball.

"This game we really came in focusing on ourselves and what we can control. We're trying to really dial into ourselves first, before we start dialing into our opponents," Lamanna said. "We just need to live through these things, and we need to learn from it. That's what I just love about our team, we are growing from every experience, we really are."

Horstman was the high scorer on the night for the Barons with 20 points (shooting 4 for 10 at the three-point line) and 7 rebounds. Schenk followed close behind with 17 points, while sophomore Joseph Rine led the team in rebounds with 7.

Lamanna said that the real success, however, came from the effort of every man on the team.

"First and foremost, I was impressed with the team as a whole, because that's what we were. That is what we're about. We are not just a few guys, we are Franciscan Basketball and that's our whole mindset," Lamanna said.

The Barons will continue to work on shutting down opponents on their defensive possessions and finishing their inside shot offensively.

"We've got to continue to work on the backboard and on our field goal defense. We're giving up too many easy looks at this point," Lamanna said. "But with each game we're getting better. I'm really proud of the guys."

The Barons will take on Hilbert College at home this Saturday, December 1st, at 3pm for the 5th Annual Hank Kuzma Community Day.